Bead setter



Patented Mar. 30, 1943 UNITED STATES TET OFFICE BEAD SETTER James T.Farrington, Tampa, Fla.

Application January 4, 1940, Serial No. 312,359

8 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for setting metallic corner beads orbase beads in a vertical or a horizontal line and spaced from the lathor other wall at a desired distance equal to the thickness of theplaster or cement to be placed thereon.

Corner beads are pieces of metal shaped to provide a round or bull-nosedbead portion and having sides or wings perforated or expanded fornailing or otherwise securing in place on a wall. When set on a corner,such a bead forms a straight edge to which the plaster may be brought upfrom both sides, the bead thus acting as a guide for the plasterers toolto determine the thickness of the plaster and forming a protection forthe finished corner to prevent pieces from being easily broken out whenthe corner is struck.

Base beads are used as a finishing strip between a lower wall portion ofa hard cement and an upper wall portion of a relatively softer plaster.They serve as straight-edged guides for the tools used in smoothing upboth the cement and the plaster, thus regulating the thickness of bothand acting as a straight line of separation between the two materials.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a simple,eflicient, and inexpensive device for holding a long, flexible bead in astraight line, the device having means for indicating when the bead isplumb or level, and having means for engaging the wall to which the beadis to be applied, to position-the head at the desired distance from thewall and to hold it when set until it has been secured in place, theadjustments of the wall-engaging means permitting the bead to bepositioned accurately whether the plaster is of the same thickness onboth walls or of greater thickness on one wall than on the other.

' 'A further object of the invention is to provide a device which may bepositioned quickly to form a gage in which the bead portion of ametallic corner piece may be set and maintained in a vertical line at adesired distance from each of two walls which form a corner, and inwhich the wings of the corner piece are capable of movement for securingthem in place upon the respective walls.

' Another object of the invention is to provide a positioning device bywhich a bead may be set plumb or level by any workman of averageintelligence without the use of other tools and the device then besecured to the wall to hold the bead in adjusted position until it canbe nailed or otherwise secured to the wall by a helper while the workmanis otherwise engaged.

A still further object of the invention is to pro.- vide a device whichmay be used to set a corner bead upon the corner of a pilaster whichprojects only a short distance from a wall surface,

the device having means for determining the bar or body having thenecessary levels, clampsand contact members; Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection through a wall of a room showing the device applied in threedifferent ways for setting beads at corners; Fig. 3 is an end view of aclamp and a bracket, with parts in section; Fig. 4 is anend elevationwith parts in section, of the device as used for setting a base bead;Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing about one-third of oneend of the device as used in Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is a transversesectional view of a bracket and the shank of a contact member. The scaleof Fig. 2 is twice that of Figs. 1 and4, and the scale of Figs. 3 and 6is four times that of Fig. 2.-

A bar member or body I, which may be of wood or of any other suitablematerial, has a straight face 2 within which are seta plurality of;guide blocks 3. Each block has a longitudinal groove in the center ofone face of aproper width and depth to receive the bead portion 4' of acorner bead or base bead member, while permitting ;a certain amount ofsidewise movement of the sidesor wings 5 to bring them into contactwiththe wall or walls. Each block is set in a recess in the body I withthe bottom of the groove flush with the surface 2, so that the bead 4can lie in contact with the surface 2 between the blocks, and aworkmancan thus see that the bead is straight throughout its length on the sidetoward thesurface 2. The flanges or projecting portions, of the blocks 3that form the two sides of the grooves are in alinement alongthe face toengage the sides of the bead at frequent intervals to maintain it inline at right angles to the face 2.

One or more screws 6 may be used to hold each Spring clips 1, shown inFig. 2 as held remov ably within a socket in the body I by a cotter pin8, are adapted to snap over the sides of a bead 4 to hold it Within theblocks 3 and against the face 2. The shape and size of the clip will bedetermined by those of the bead to be set. A bolt or screw mayconveniently replace the cotter pin.

It is a common practice in building to provide grounds, which are stripsof wood nailed to a wall near the floor to act as guides for theplasterer to determine plaster thickness. At a corner, such groundsshould be set on each side, and there may be situations where suchgrounds differ in thickness to bring the plaster to the exact placedesired, but the bead must be set at the intersection of the surfaces ofthe grounds, regardless of the difference in thickness of plaster on thetwo walls.

Near each end of the body I clamp 9 are secured as by bolts which passthrough slots H which permit adjustment of the clamps lengthwise of thebody to agree with the different distances from the floor at which thegrounds may be placed. As best seen in Fig. 3, a cross bar l2 whichliesin contact with the rear face of the body I', connects two guidemembers l3 having inturned, beveled flanges l4 forming, guides forbrackets l5 which are correspondingly beveled to slide within theguides. A screw It for each bracket engages the member l3 within thechannel formed by the flanges l4 to hold the bracket in adjustedposition.

In the form shown at the top of Fig. 2, the bracket I 5 has a portionI"! inclined at about 45 to the portion within the guides and an outerportion I 8 inclined at a little less than 90 to the portion H. Theshank I9 of a contact member 20 is slidably adjustable longitudinally ofthe portion l8 of the bracket, the shank preferably having side flanges2| on opposite sides of the bracket and-having a slot 22 for a bolt 23held within the bracket and having a wing nut 24 by which the shank maybe held at any desired position of adjustment. When the nut is loose,the shank may slide on the bracket for the full lengthof the slot, oneend of the slot acting as a stop to position the contact face of themember 20 in the broken line adjustment in which the outer face of theportion I1 and of the member 26 are in a .common plane.

If the grounds are set at five inches from the floor, one of the clamps9' will be adjusted along the slots H until the bracket is at the samedistance from the end of the body as the grounds are from the floor andthe bolts ill will then be tightened to hold the clamps in place. Thecon-, tact members Zilwill be adjusted to bring their outer faces flushwith the outer faces of the bracket portions I l and the nuts- 24 willthen be tightened. Each of the brackets IE will be set in the guides inthe clamps to a point, (which may conveniently be indicated byregistering mark on bracket and clamp), at which the plane of the outerface of the portion I! will be tangent to the bead 4 when it lies in thegrooves of the blocks 3; and the screws It will hold the brackets inthis position.

-'I'he corner bead will be placed against the straight face 2 of thebody with the bead portion in the grooves in the blocks 3 and with theclips 1 engaging the sides of the bead to hold it in the grooves. Theoperator can glance at the bead between the blocks to be sure that thewhole length is in contact with the face 2'. Sometimes a bead may besprung out of line in shipment go into a mortar joint.

fore it is ready for setting. With a straight bead held is a straightline by the clips, when the lower contact members are placed against thegrounds at a corner, the sides of the bead at the lower end will be atthe proper distances from each of the walls meeting at the corner. Alevel 25 mounted in a recess in the body at a convenient height to beobserved by the operator shows when the face 2 is in a vertical plane,and a level 26 set at right angles to the sidewalls shows when they arein vertical planes. When both side and face are vertical, the bead willof course be plumb.

When a bead has been plumbed, with the lower contact members 20 heldagainst the grounds, the

upper contact members will be slid forward into contact with the wallson each side of the corner, as is indicated in the top position in Fig.2, and the nuts 24 tightened to maintain this adjustment.

The bead is now in position for nailing, but the wings are still free.It is evident that the tool can be lifted away from the corner, carryingthe bead with it, and it may remain away as long as may be desired, butwhen it is again set in place with the lower contact members against thegrounds and the upper members against the wall, the bead will again beready for nailing in place, so long as no change has been made in theadjustment of the parts. The bead will be plumbed by the simple act ofreplacing the device against the corner with the flat contact facesagainst the flat wall.

Ordinarily, the skilled workman. who sets the beads will have a helperfollowing after him to nail them on, as he sets one bead after anotherthrough a house. On large jobs, where there are many beads to be set,two or more of the tools will be used, to avoid delays, and as soon asthe adjustments have been made and a bead set in position, a strap 21may be placed around the body at any convenient height along the centralportion, and the ends of the strap secured to the wall as by a naildriven through a hole at each end of the strap. In masonry walls, thenails will This strap does not fit tight around the straight edge, theidea being to hold the tool against the corner but not to force itsidewise when driving the nails. Very little force is needed to hold thetool erect, because it-rests solidly on the floor with four contactmembers resisting movement of either end toward either wall.

The workman will have both hands free for nailing the wings of the beadin place and as soon as he is done, the strap can be readily detachedfrom the wall and from the-tool to free it for use in some otherlocation. With a slight pull, the entire device will be released fromthe bead, since the spring clips are easily detached from theirengagement with the rounded bead portion. On masonry walls, wherenailing cannot be done, the beads will be secured in place by.quick-setting plaster, and as soon as this has become hard, the devicecan be removed without injury to the bond.

When no grounds have been set near the floor, the lower contact members20 will, of course, be adjusted outward beyond the plane of the outerfaces of the portions I! of the brackets to a distance equal to thethickness of the plaster that is to be applied to that wall surface, andwhen these contact members are placed against the walls on each side ofthe corner, the bead will be held at the proper distances from bothsides. It

. will be evident that when the bead is placed urement.

within the clips and held up to a corner, it may easily he slidlengthwise of the tool within the grooves in the blocks 3 until it comesinto contact with the grounds, while still remaining straight, andplumb, and in position for setting.

When the tool is to be used for setting a bead on the corner of apilaster which does not project out from a wall surface far enough touse a regular contact member 28 on the narrow side of the pilaster,another form of contact member will be used, such as is illustrated inthe central portion of Fig. 2. At the outer end of a bracket l5, amember 28 is provided with an outer face 29 which is at substantiallyright angles to the prtion I! and within this member 28, a rod 30 isslidable substantially parallel with the face 29.

If a ground has been set near the bottom, the lower end of the bead willbe set in vertical position at the corner of the ground and the bracketl will be slid within its clamp to bring the face 29 against the wall atone side of the pilaster and at a little distance therefrom. In theabsence of a ground, the operator will set the bracket to bring thesurface 29 outward to a distance corresponding to the desired amount ofprojection of the pilaster beyond the adjacent wall surface, includingthe plaster on the pilaster face, and making the proper allowance forthe thickness of the plaster on the adjacent wall. The rod 38 will beadjusted and secured by its set screw 30 to bring its outer end intocontact with the side face of the pilaster when the bead is in properposition to project beyond the unfinished side wall a-distance equal tothe thickness of the plaster to be applied to that wall. Theseadjustments of the bracket and of the rod may be made with the bead heldupright at the corner, or they may be made in advance before the tool istaken to the wall when the thickness of the plaster on each surface andthe desired projection of the pilaster are known, as set forth in theblue print or in the building specifications. On the outer face of thepilaster, the usual contact members 2|! may be used. It will be evidentthat the surface 29 when set in place will determine the amount ofprojection of the pilaster from the adjacent wall and that the rod 30will determine the position of the bead longitudinally of the pilasterand hence the thickness of the plaster on the side wall of the pilaster.

By providing duplicate levels 25 and 26, the entire device may bereversed for use on both sides of a pilaster when the special member 28is used.

In many places, as at an arch or a doorway, it may be desirable toadjust the beads to straighten a plaster surface to overcome anirregularity due to faulty woodwork. At the lower end of Fig. 2, astructure is shown in which the lath 3| is not at right angles to thelath 32 and in which the lath 33 is neither at right angles to the lath3| nor parallel with the lath 32. In every building, there will ofcourse besome points or surfaces from which the proper position of otherpoints or surfaces may be determined, as by sighting or meas- Assumingin the given case, that the lath 32 is at right angles to the wall 34,the bead setting tool will be set up at the outer end of the lath 32with the contact member 23 flat against the surface of the lath. In theclamp 9 on the other side of the tool, a bracket 35 will be providedwith a long straight arm 36 at an angle of 45 to the bracket or at anangle of 90 to the face of the member and hence at right angles to thewall of which the lath 32 is a part. It will be seen that the arm 36 isnot parallel with the lath 3|, but it will be adjusted outward from thatsurface to give as much plaster as is necessary or desired to cover thesurface of which the lath 3| is a part. With the tool thus set in place,the bead 31 may be secured to its corner. Since the thickness of plasteris almost the same on both sides of the corner, as shown, the bead 31will be in about the normal setting with respect to the corner as inboth corners above in the same figure, but since the plaster on theopposite corner of this wall is relatively thin over the lath 3| andthick over the lath 33, the bead 38 will need to be tilted at an angleto bring it out to the line at which the two wall surfaces it serveswill be tangent to the sides of the bead. After the lower end isfastened in the right place, the tool can be disconnected from the bead3'! and attached to the bead 38 to plumb it before it is secured rigidlyto the corner.

For setting base beads, plates 39 will be secured to the body at aboutone-fourth of the length of the body from each end, these plates havingthreaded socket-s for screws 40 which act as vertically adjustable legsfor the device to support it at any desired height from the floor toagree with the position at which the bead is to be set. A block 4|having sockets 42 to receive the lower ends of the screws to protectthem and to assist in making the device more stable may be used ifdesired with each pair of screws. A centrally located level 43 may beused to indicate a proper adjustment of the screws.

lhe base bead 44 will be held against the body by clips 1 adapted to theparticular form of bead to be used and the distance of the bead from thewall will be determined by contact members 45 whose wall-contactingsurface are substantially at right angles to the brackets.

It will be seen that the device is adjustable to meet any conditions inWhich anything is out of normal, as well as to provide for any desiredthickness of plaster. The brackets will all be interchangeable in thediiferent clamps so that any contact membermay be used at any of thefour places on the tool.

The entire device is so easily handled that any workman of averageintelligence should be able to secure perfect results with littlepractice.

Many changes in size, proportions, details of construction, and in thearrangement of the parts may be made without departure from theprinciples of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A device for setting corner beads comprising a body having a planeface, means to grip a bead against said face in a straight line,brackets on said body each having a portion projecting beyond said face,the outer surfaces of the projecting portions lying in planes tangent tothe outer sides of said head, whereby when the outer surfaces of saidbrackets are placed in contact with grounds, the bead will be positionedwith its outer surfaces in line with the surfaces of the grounds.

2. A structure as in claim 1 having contact members adjustable outwardlyupon said brackets beyond the outer planes of the projecting portions ofthe brackets, said contact members having contact faces parallel to theouter surfaces of the brackets.

3. A device for setting beads comprising a, body, means upon the body togrip a bead to hold it in a straight line, means adjustable on the bodyfor engagement with a wall to hold the body at a desired distance fromthe wall, and a support for the body to hold it at a desired distancefrom the floor.

4. A device as in claim 3, in which the support comprises means forvertical adjustment of the body.

5. A device for setting beads comprising a body, adjustable means forsupporting said body in a substantially horizontal plane, means on saidbody for engagement with a wall and means for holding a bead upon saidbody in a straight line, one of said means being adjustable to positionsaid bead at a desired distance from the wall.

6. A device for setting beads comprising a body, means on said body forholding a bead in a straight line, a screw on each side of thelongitudinal center of said body acting as a support for said body andadjustable to position the body in a substantially horizontal plane, andan additional screw on the opposite side of the transverse center of thebody from the other screws acting as a support for said body andadjustable to position said body in a substantially horizontal planetransverse to said first mentioned supporting screws.

7. A device for setting a bead at a corner at which two walls meet,comprising a body, brackets secured to said body and projecting outwardtherefrom, each of said brackets having a plane surface to determine thepositioning of the body with respect to the wall adjacent to saidsurface and at a desired distance, the planes of said surfaces beingsubstantially at right angles to each other and means on said body forholding a bead in a straight line with the outer sides of the beadtangent to the planes of the contact surfaces near their intersection.

8. A device for setting a bead at a corner at which two walls meet,comprising a body, means on said body for holding a bead in a straightline, brackets on said body near one end, each of said brackets having aplane surface adapted for contact with a surface with which the bead isto bear a definite relation, the planes of the contact surfaces of thebrackets being substantially at right angles to each other and tangentto the sides of the bead near their intersection, and contact membersnear the other end of the body from the first mentioned brackets andextending outward on opposite sides of the bead, said contact membershaving a portion adjustable toward and from adjacent wall surfaces forengagement therewith when the bead i in desired position with thebrackets in contact with the surfaces determining the bead position, andmeans for securing the adjusted portions in desired position.

JAMES T. FARRINGTON.

